It's not Christmas without you
by personalescape
Summary: Written for Maddie :) Christmas throughout Moose and Camille's friendship/relationship. First up: Freshmen Year. Cute fluffy stuff :)
1. The Perfect Gift

**Okaaaay! First thing first: this is for my lovely reviewer Maddie who asked me to write a fanfic about the different Christmases during Moose and Camille's friendship/relationship. I decided to make it a multichapters story.  
I hope you all like it! Read&Review :)  
Also check out my one-shots collection "The way a fool would do"  
DISCLAIMER: As much as I would love to, I don't own any of the Step Up movies**

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**It's Not Christmas Without You**

_**1. A perfect gift / Freshmen Year**_

They've been attending MSA for barely three months, yet it felt like they've always been friends. And now, two weeks before Christmas, Camille found herself wondering what to buy for Moose. She didn't have much time, Winter Break was about to begin meaning the whole Alexander family had to leave to visit their relatives all the way to the west coast. It saddened her that he wasn't going to be around since he was her real first friend in high school. Which was actually surprising because they didn't have any class together with her mainly studying ballet and singing while he was in stage lighting (though he did have sick moves).  
"Well, at least Ty is coming back from NYC with Nora" she thought as she strolled around the chilly streets of Baltimore.  
It was almost six.  
She huffed in frustration absently glancing at the many shops. She's been walking around for almost three hours now, yet she found nothing, not for Moose at least.  
On the bright side she bought something for everyone else on her list: Ty and Malcolm, her foster parents, Mac (who was like a third brother), Nora, a few friends both from high school and middle school with whom she kept in touch, Lucy (who always gave her singing tips even from across the country) and she even found something for herself.

Camille was about to give up, but her feet unconsciously brought her in a clothing shop. She really didn't want to buy something so... anonymous?  
She wanted her first real gift to him to mean something and not one of those things that anyone could buy without truly knowing him. She was usually good at buying presents! She sighed.  
"It has to be casual, but still thoughtful and also completely 'Moose'." she thought frowning putting down the tenth t-shirt in a row.  
When she was one step from leaving the place she notice a certain piece of clothing across the store.  
Moose.  
Completely Moose.  
She didn't even know why. It simply was. It seemed to Camille that he just _had _to have at least one in his closet. It made her smile and think of that curly mess he called hair.  
"He always complains about it getting in his eyes, but don't even dare to suggest a hair cut..." She giggled a little trying to choose a color. Camille was actually surprised by the amount of different shades they had (but honestly she was just happy she found something). She crossed her fingers as she walked out with another plastic bag.

Camille, being Camille, started to have second thoughts about everything the moment she reached home. From the sassy-ness she put in Ty's gift card to the color of the earrings she bought for her friend Danie. But what made her nervous above all was Moose's present in general. It was the first Christmas since they met, and she loved Christmas! She couldn't fail at gift giving, she never did!  
Plus he was her best friend.  
"Ugh!" She was seriously thinking too much about it. "He probably doesn't expect to get him something." She reasoned.  
"Still.. it's not a valid reason not to give him anything..." she muttered as she re-wrapped the present for the last time.  
""What if he doesn't like it? ... Mmmmh I should stop worrying. It's Moose after all. He's my friend, _best _friend, he'll appreciate it."

The last day of school before Winter Break Robert "Moose" Alexander III arrived to school smiling like he did everyday. It amazed her how cheerful that guy could be.  
At times it almost made her feel guilty about not being as happy as he was.

Right before they parted ways, him with his parents to the airport and her to ballet rehearsal like every friday, the bid good bye and wished each other a happy holiday. Before she could tell him about the present somewhere deep in her bag, Moose spoke up.

"I've got you something." He said fishing out a gift from his back-pack pocket.  
"Nothing much, but I thought you'd like it. Just don't open it 'till Christmas morning. It's bad luck!" He added as he handed her a small, dark green box.  
"Okay, but you've gotta swear you won't open yours either." She said smiling.

"You got me something? You didn't have to!" He sounded like a kid on... well, Christmas.

"Com'on, you've gave me something too after all."  
"Yeah, but it's not like you knew about it before now!" He said taking the present. "Unless you can read my mind..." slowly he raised his eyebrow making her giggle.  
"Did we develop that kind of power? And I say _we _because if you can read my mind, but I can't read yours than it's totally **not **fair!" This only made her laugh more.

A dark grey car stopped right in front of them and Moose was soon gone.  
Later that night when she got home she was tempted to open the little box, but before she could undo the green bow she hear the front door open and close followed by her brother's voice. Moose's present for her lay on her bedroom's desk untouched 'till the morning of the 25th.

On January, as Camille walked to school, the cold metal necklace she wore made her shiver. They were both good and bad chills.  
Good because it was truly a pretty gift. It was from her best friend. There was a small charm on it, ballerina shoes to be precised, "nice yet simple, just like her" said the note inside the box.  
Moose had been so sweet with her. She never took it off ever since.  
Bad because it made her feel _bad. _Ever since she opened her own present she thought that what she had given him wasn't enough. She had let him down, she was sure, she had definitely let herself down. She failed Christmas... She was Camille Gage for heaven's sake, she couldn't fail Christmas!  
What she bought him in comparison seemed thoughtless. It kind of worried her... Erase the "Kind of". The idea he might disliked the present horrified her.

Later that day she found out that there was nothing to worry about. In fact he was wearing his present and telling her much he liked it. He never took it of, not even in class. It looked good with his dark hair.  
A deep red, slouchy beanie hat.  
Later that _year, _when she visited Ty in New York,she ended up buying him a dark blue baseball cap. Slowly it became a tradition.  
Later _through _the years it became an obsession for Moose. He even had a special drawer for hat, caps and whatsoever. Half of them were from Camille. He always told her the were his lucky charm. What he never told her was that to him _she _was his lucky charm and wearing the hats she gave him was like holding her closer to his heart wherever he went.  
Later, after he realized his feelings for her, he stopped buying them. Sometimes she'd still give him hats out of habit, and he'd still wear them. But now it was just that: a habit.  
Because now he didn't need an object to feel her closer to his heart. Now she was _in _his heart and he couldn't get her out even if she wanted to.  
When she notice that he still had that deep red, slouchy hat she laughed telling him of her insecurities.  
_"There is no Moose without this." _He replied and they both knew he meant there was no him without her.

But that was to happen long after freshmen year, so on that cold January morning she was left wondering if it was a good gift.  
It was a perfect gift.

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I hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you think..  
'Till next time :)  
with love,  
**_PersonalEscape_**


	2. A Christmas Apart

_**Heya! I am so very sorry for not posting in such a long time. I've been caught up in school stuff and all that. But I'll try to be more active in the next weeks, I'm still trying to get used to the school schedule, I was always better at going to bed late rather than waking up early and I am a really unorganized person so...  
**_**_Anyway here comes another chapter! Yayyy..  
I've been thinking about what might have happened in sophomore year a lot and I'm still not sure about this, but it made sense in my head.  
DISCLAIMER: You already know I don't own Step Up, right? Well, if you didn't now you do.  
_**

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**QUOTE OF THE DAY:  
"Live, Love, Dance"**

**This one was inspired by a mural I saw once in a dance studio, I've been i love that mural since forever.**

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It wasn't that cold. Not for a mid-December night.  
Moose was celebrating Christmas a few days early this year, it was the first Friday since Winter Break and the crew decided to throw a party before people started to leave for the holidays.  
Unlike the previous years the weatherman on TV went on and on about snow, yet it still hadn't happened which meant they could spend the evening outside drinking hot chocolate to keep warm.  
He glanced around. Sophie was sitting next to him, her head on his left shoulder, softly talking to Missy who was standing in front of Kido. On his right was Andie with her back on him joking with Hair and Chase. The other half of the crew was either dancing or trying to get Missy's dad to turn the volume up.  
All his friends were here. All but one.

"Looking around won't make her pop out of the blue, you know?"  
His girlfriend sat up, her head no longer on him, but carefully facing the other way. That was the thing about Sophia Donovan, unlike what everyone expected from her she was actually nice. Sure she was competitive, especially if it came to dancing, but she was nice. And in the past month Moose found out she was rather good at reading people.  
More than once something in her tone made him think she wished she didn't have this special ability.  
She sighed turning her face to him.  
"Call her. I came because you asked me to, but I refuse to stay around you if you're going to act like this all night." She said standing up, a flash of hurt appeared in her eyes but it was gone with the same quickness as it came. He watched as she sat next to Chase and after a while he saw them talk and laugh, probably about dance. Sophie and Chase were different sides of the same medal: dancing came first.

Moose glanced at the phone on his lap wonder what to do next.  
There was no need to ask of who Soph was talking about earlier.  
Camille.  
Robert Alexander III and Camille Gage had been friends since his very first day. They spent all their time together: lunch, free periods, breaks and afternoons.  
But that was freshman year.

In September, as Sophomore Year rolled in, spending time with her became a bit hard, they had completely different schedules and she started Drama which in few time devoured 3 out of 7 of her afternoons.  
They barely saw each other for a week until one day they decided to simply organize their selves better and meet up for lunch. That was also the day he met Andie West and all his plans for the day went out of the window in order to show her around. He felt extremely guilty, but Camille told him not to worry and that she had been caught up in the studio for a music project with her friends Danie and Lucas anyways.

Since that day he saw her a little less each week. He was busy with the crew and she was busy with "the others" as she put every time they talked (on the phone obviously, meeting up was an almost unthinkable idea).  
Also one of the flaws of attending a big school was being able to see only half of the student body no matter where you were ("Seriously that school is HUGE!" he thought.) and those rare times they met Camille was either rushing to the next class or (after class) when he went to practice with the crew and she had her nose stuck in a sheet music or various pages of lyrics.  
This past months he saw her a bit more. Turns out she had an advanced ballet class with Sophie, so when he went to pick his girlfriend up they would chat a little. Just for the few minutes it took Soph to gather her things, shot him a half annoyed half sad look and for Danie or Lucas to get there and walk to class with Cam.  
Needless to say that he missed her as crazy.

"You okay there, Moose?" Andie still dressed like it was summer, almost like the cold had no effect on her. She was the only one who actually knew and was friends with Camille.  
"Maybe I should have invited her…" He almost didn't realize he said that aloud.  
Andie didn't even looked surprised.  
"Wouldn't have mattered." She replied without looking at him. "They left this afternoon to go visit Ty in New York." She didn't miss the hurt look on his face.  
"Oh, she didn't tell me."  
"She told me to give you these, and to wish you a Merry Christmas." Andie handed him a pale gold box and went back to stare at her boyfriend and his girlfriend a few meters from them with a frown on her face.  
There were a few pictures of them and two mixed tapes.  
"Trust Cam to do something so adorably old-fashioned…" He mused in his head.  
The letter was short and straight to the point. She missed him, but she understood that they both had lives and passions that deserved full commitment so she was cool with them not being able to meet up. And also he didn't have to worry because she had another present for him.  
He couldn't stop himself from laughing when he noticed a colorful, neat schedule that matched his and her classes, his rehearsals and her school shows. Underlined and written in her cute penmanship were the words "I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANOTHER SEMESTER UNORGANIZED" and under it all of her free time and his.  
He suddenly felt guilty, both because he realized he didn't buy her anything and because he was so busy feeling bad and sort of neglected that he didn't do anything to change things.  
So he left the party. Merely saying goodbye to Missy's parents and forgetting about Sophie being his ride and instead ran home to start drawing and planning.

Two weeks later Camille Gage made her way to her brother's old room, which was now hers, and opened the window. She didn't exactly like the view, the brick wall right in front of her small balcony was covered in swears and "Street Art", but not like the ones you saw around town. These were nothing but messy murals.  
She breathed in the chilly January breeze, she could hear the faint noises of cars and kids and boom-boxes. But it was nothing like the chaos of New York, she just got back and she already missed that city.  
When she opened her eyes she was taken aback by the view in front of her, the whole brick wall was painted black except for a lilac figure clearly representing a ballerina in a tutu.  
She flew out of her room and made her way down the stairs in the blink of an eye to see the mural properly.  
Under the dancer there were words written in small letters, barely visible from afar.  
"25/12/2008 – Merry Christmas, Camille"  
There was no need to wonder who did it.  
He really was something else.

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_**A tad short, but I hope you like anyway.  
Thanks for reading! NOW review!  
Until next time,  
with love  
**personalescape_


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